Google adds visual search features for shoppers

Dive Brief:

In continued efforts to make product discovery more streamlined, Google unveiled new shopping features on Wednesday which allow users to discover new products and brands in a more visual way.
With Google Lens, iOS users will soon be able to use a button in the Google app to make all images on a page searchable and shoppable. The company plans to launch the feature for Chrome desktop users to let them search pictures, videos and text and find search results, the company said.
Using Google's Shopping Graph, consumers can receive a visual feed of their clothing, shoes and accessories search results alongside information about local stores, style guides and videos. Users can also see whether their local stores have products available using the "in stock" filter, per the announcement.

Dive Insight:

Over the past year or so, Google has continued to release a suite of tools to connect consumers to retailers with the products they're seeking. The features debuted today will help consumers browse and filter listings to find the exact items they see online or offline.

Last year, the company allowed sellers to display their product catalogs in Google search results for free versus paying for sponsored listings. The search giant initially stopped charging fees to merchants on Google Shopping in April 2020, because the coronavirus pandemic made e-commerce essential for retailers as they were forced to close their physical storefronts.

Earlier this year, Google Cloud released multiple features enabling retailers to create custom product recommendations and tap into Google's advanced search functions. This summer, the company allowed Square sellers to add their product catalog into Google's search, shopping tab, images and map tools using the Google Merchant Center.

"People are shopping across Google more than a billion times a day, and we have been working to make those experiences even more helpful by expanding your options. We're here to help you find new ideas, discover unique products or get the best value from the widest possible range of merchants — from large retailers, marketplaces and well-known brands, to local stores and new direct-to-consumer companies," Bill Ready, Google's president of commerce, payments and NBU, wrote in the announcement.